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Idol is adding a fourth judge-- Kara DioGuardi. I hadn't heard of her before, but according to the article her songs "have been recorded by Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Pink, among others."

I think this may be only the first of some interesting changes that may be in store for Season 8. I think they're looking to keep things fresh. I think adding a fourth judge could do that. Adding a fourth judge is a much better solution than replacing one of the current three. As much ambivalence as I have towards Randy and Paula, it may have been too much of a change to actually replace one of them.

And, of course, Nigel Lythgoe is leaving. I think they've vowed to cut down on the wacky audition episodes. They need a balance, as this season's Nashville Star covering the auditions in brief before launching right into the competition wasn't a great solution either. I like seeing Hollywood Week and getting to know these people a little beforehand.

I thought I had heard that too. I'm definately OK with that. In the first couple seasons, the audition shows were great with all the wacky try-outs. But as the seasons went on, it became painfully obvious that people were "trying to be bad". And that's just not funny.

Yeah. I think they ought to have a week or maybe two of auditions, but if anyone is obviously trying to make an ass out of themselves, leave them on the cutting room floor. I was actually angry last season, having to see that idiot who dressed up like Slave Leia. No way should that have made it to air.

Nice kneejerk, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with the discussion Bryan and I were having. The *producers* have said the auditions episodes will be scaled back. I said they probably should be scaled back a little since people do complain, but they should not be eliminated as Nashville Star basically did. And, Bryan and I both agreed that the auditions can be fun if they don't give the limelight to jerks who will do anything to get on the air.

It is more about the content of the audition episodes, many are tired of the "contestants" just trying to get air time by being a joke of a contestant, but audition episodes featuring viable and interesting contestants are fine. People are tired of sifting through the auditions to get a few worthy audition nuggets. People want a higher signal-to-noise ratio.

Each season has a finite number of episodes. People that prefer other aspects of the show to the audition episodes, would probably rather see the auditions scaled back. It's not that anyone forced them to watch the auditions, it's that the amount of time dedicated to those episodes reduced the time available for the non-audition part of the season.

They don't need to ADD a fourth judge; they just need to replace Randy and Paula. They're tired and add nothing to the show at this point.
You can put a new hat on crap, but it's still just crap with a hat.

The purpose of an education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind.

You could be right. But I guess I'd rather them try to shake things up a bit in a effort to revitalize the show than the let it die a stagnant death.
At least they haven't completely run the show into the ground like Survivor by airing two seasons every year.

I know some will be disappointed, but I couldn't be happier about that item. While there's some minor value in showing people who are delusional about their singing ability (hopefully to keep them from trying out and/or thinking they can be singers), I watch the show for good performances, not bad ones.
Unfortunately, there's no change in the other thing I didn't like about last season -- themes before moving to the big stage. My favorite part of the show during seasons 4-6 were when the selected contestants got to sing their favorites on the intimate stage. The sound was great, and there's nothing like hearing good singers sing a favorite song/rendition picked from any song Idol has the rights to. I can see the value in exploring the versatility of the singers by pushing them out of their genres, but the goosebump moments for me come when watching, say, Daughtry singing Rock (not Stevie Wonder), or Melinda Doolittle doing R&B (not Queen songs). All I ask is for a few weeks of that, like they did in S4-S6.

Add me to the list of people who are happy to have less of the auditions.
Most of the bad ones are people who are willing to do anything to get on camera, and the producers let them. This just gives fewer good singers a chance. Plus, it is never good to reward bad behavior.

Ok, I admit, I liked the fake auditions, and I generally stop watching the show after the audition episodes. I don't watch the rest of the series, but I enjoy those. So, kind of news I didn't want, but I appreciate those who watch the whole series do.